Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Note
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1947 February 15 | Born in Worcester, Massachusetts |
| 1969 | Earned Bachelor of Music degree from Harvard University |
| 1972 | Earned Master of Arts in Music from Harvard University |
| 1972-1982 | Taught composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and directed the New Music Ensemble |
| 1977 | Composed official opus one, Phrygian Gates |
| 1978 | Composed Shaker Loops |
| 1979-1985? | New Music Advisor for San Francisco Symphony |
| 1980-1981 | Composed Harmonium, commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony |
| 1982 | Composed Grand Pianola Music |
| 1982-1985 | Composer-in-Residence with the San Francisco Symphony |
| 1983 | Premiere of Available Light (score published as Light Over Water), with choreography by Lucinda Childs and set design by Frank Gehry Married Deborah O'Grady |
| 1984 | Library of Congress Koussevitzky Foundation commission for Eros Piano |
| 1985 | Premiere of Harmonielehre Library of Congress McKim Fund commission for Road Movies |
| 1986 | Composed Short Ride in a Fast Machine |
| 1987 | Premiere of Nixon in China, with libretto by Alice Goodman and direction by Peter Sellars |
| 1988 | Composed Fearful Symmetries and The Wound-Dresser |
| 1988-1990 | Conductor and Adviser for Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra |
| 1989 | Won first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition with Nixon in China |
| 1991 | Conductor and Artistic Director of Ojai and Cabrillo music festivals Premiere of The Death of Klinghoffer, with libretto by Alice Goodman and direction by Peter Sellars |
| 1992 | Composed Chamber Symphony |
| 1993 | Composed Violin Concerto |
| 1994 | Chief Marshall at Harvard University commencement |
| 1995 | Received Grawemeyer Music Award for Music Composition Premiere of I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky, with libretto by June Jordan and direction by Peter Sellars |
| 1996 | Composed Hallelujah Junction for two pianos |
| 1997 | Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters |
| 1998 | Won Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition with El Dorado |
| 1999 | Composed Naïve and Sentimental Music |
| 2000 | Premiere of El Niño |
| 2002 | Composed On the Transmigration of Souls, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic |
| 2003 | Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for On the Transmigration of Souls Received Honorary Doctorate from University of Cambridge Composed My Father Knew Charles Ives, commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony, and The Dharma at Big Sur |
| 2004 | Received Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal from Harvard University |
| 2005 | Won three Grammy Awards for Best Classical Contemporary Composition, Best Orchestral Performance, and Best Classical Album with On the Transmigration of Souls Premiere of Doctor Atomic, with libretto and direction by Peter Sellars |
| 2006 | Premiere of A Flowering Tree, with libretto by Adams and Peter Sellars and direction by Sellars |
| 2007 | Received Harvard Arts Medal Received Distinguished Composer Award from the American Composer's Orchestra |
| 2008 | Composed First Quartet Publication of memoir Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life Received Honorary Doctorate from Northwestern University |
| 2009 | Composed City Noir Received Honorary Doctorate from Duquesne University |
| 2011 | Received Honorary Doctorate from Juilliard |
| 2012 | Composed Absolute Jest Premiere of The Gospel According to the Other Mary, with libretto by Peter Sellars Received Honorary Doctorate from Harvard University |
| 2013 | Received Honorary Doctorate from Yale University |
| 2014 | Library of Congress Dina Koston and Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music commission for Second Quartet Composed Scheherezade.2 |
| 2015 | Awarded Republic of France Ministère de la Culture, Chevalier, l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Received Honorary Doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music |
| 2017 | Premiere of Girls of the Golden West, with libretto and direction by Peter Sellars |
| 2018 | Received BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for Music and Opera |
| 2019 | Awarded the Erasmus Prize from the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation Received Honorary Doctorate from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music |
| 2021 | Awarded Glasshütte Original Music Festival Prize |
| 2022 | Premiere of Antony and Cleopatra, with libretto by Adams and direction by Elkanah Pulitzer |